Electric hand roller presser



Feb. 7, 1939..

A. J, HEBERT 2,146,471

ELECTRIC- HAND ROLLER PRESSER Filed March 28, 1938 lNVENTOR BY M ATTO R N EYS Patented Feb. 7, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to electrical hand roller pressers, the prime object being to produce a simple yet practical and eflicient hand operated device for pressing textile material or articles and wearing apparel of various kinds either while being worn by the wearer or removed therefrom.

A more specific object of the invention is to improve the means of mounting and controlling the cooperating roller elements and to facilitate the application of the device to the article or material to be pressed.

A further object is to provide for a self-compensating adjustment of the roller elements to take care of any irregularity in thickness of the material being pressed.

With these and other objects to be attained, as will hereinafter more fully appear, the invention consists in the novel general structure and parts and combinations and arrangements of parts thereof as set forth in the following specification and defined in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing illustrating a practical adaptation of the invention, and in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the device;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 22 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral I0 designates an elongated handle element at the forward end of which is mounted a rectangular housing I I, said housing having a central opening in its lower end wall I2 which registers with a longitudinal bore I3 in the handle element I0. Extending through said handle bore I3 and the central opening in said end wall I2 of the rectangular casing I I is a tube I4, the front end of which is flanged outwardly and annularly, as at I5, so

as to engage the adjacent inner side of the end wall I2 of the housing II, the outer end portion I6 of said tube I4 being screw threaded externally for the reception of a retaining nut H, which is countersunk in an end enlargement I8 of the bore I3, by which provision said housing I I is securely fastened to the forward end of the handle element II Preferably, the adjacent end portion of the handle element I0 is reduced to provide a neck I9 on which is placed a ferrule 29, said neck portion 50 and the ferrule sleeved thereon being elliptical in cross section, and coincident with the longitudinal axis of the ellipse, said neck portion I9 is provided with an off-set passageway 2! which communicates at its inner end with the interior of the 66 tube I4 through a lateral opening 22 in the latter and its opposite end in communication with the interior of the housing II through an opening 23 in the end wall I2 of said housing, said off-set passageway 2I and its communication with the tube I 4 and housing II, as just above described, 5 being for the purpose of passing an electrical circuit cord to the heating element within one of the roller elements as will be later more fully described.

Extending laterally from one side and near the 10 outer end of said rectangular housing I I is a hollow shaft 24 whose inner end portion 25 is externally screw threaded and fitted in correspondingly screw threaded opening in the side wall of said housing II, and said hollow shaft 24 being 15 locked in position by a jam nut 26 provided on its inner end portion and tightened against the inner face of the side wall of the housing II. At the outer end of the hollow shaft 24 is a screw plug 21 having an annularly flanged head or collar por- 20 tion 28 at its outer end, said portion 28 retaining a tubular roller member 29 which is sleeved rotatably on said tubular shaft 24 between said collar portion 28 of the plug 21 and an end thrust washer 30 which is located between the inner end 25 of the roller sleeve 29 and the adjacent outer face portion of the side wall of the housing II.

Within the hollow shaft 24 is a lining 3| of material of heat conductivity but of electrical insulative character, and encased within this 30 lining is an electrical heating element 32 of any approved type but conventionally shown in the drawing as a resistance coil, from the inner end of which extend the circuit wires 33 and 34, re-

spectively, which are shown diagrammatically in 3 .-v

Figure 1 but in actual practice are contained in an insulated cord which is conveniently passed lengthwise through the housing II, oiT-set passageway 2i in the handle element In, and thence through the tube I4 and out of the end of said 4 tube for attachment to the usual outlet from the source of electrical current.

Mounted in opposed relation to the roller sleeve 29 is a presser roller 35, said roller 35, as shown, being in the form of a hollow cylinder having axial openings in its opposite ends so as to be rotatably mounted on a shaft 36, said shaft having a retaining disk 3'! threaded on its outer end in abutting relation to the adjacent end of said roller 35 and a thrust washer 38 being interposed between the inner end of said roller 35 and the adjacent outer face of the side wall of the housing I I. This shaft 36 has its inner end portion 39 extended through aligned vertical slots 40, 4|, in

the opposite walls of said housing I I and being 56,

provided with a retaining head 42 at its extreme end with a washer 42' interposed between said head portion 42 and the adjacent outer face of the side wall of said housing ll.

Within the housing H, said shaft 36 is provided with oppositely extending wings 43 afiording a seat between which and the inner end wall l2 of the housing I l is a spring element 44 which is constantly under compression and reacting to move the roller 36 into contact with the opposed roller sleeve 29. A supplemental spring element 45 is secured at one end to the shaft portion 39, as at 46, axially with relation to the spring element 4|, and at its opposite end to a stud 41 mounted axially on the outer end wall 48 of said housing II. This spring element 45 working in conjunction with the spring 44 affords a balanced resilient support for the shaft 36 whereby sagging of the extended portion of said shaft beyond the side of the housing ll under the weight of the roller 35 is practically avoided and said presser roller 35 is resiliently held in working relation to the opposed heated roller sleeve 29.

To manually retract the roller 35 from the opposed roller sleeve 29, a puller bar 49 is attached at one end to the shaft 36, as at 5B, and extended through a guide opening 5| in the end wall I2 of said housing H, the outer end portion 52 of said bar being turned laterally at right angles to the body portion to afford a grasping portion for the convenient engagement of the forefinger of the operators hand which grasps the handle l0 and supports the device in use, thereby leaving the operators other hand free to manipulate the article or material being pressed, and, to afford ample clearance for the operation of said roller retracting bar 49, the adjacent end portion of the handle lli may be cut away, as at 53.

Any suitable provision may be made for access to the interior of the rectangular housing I i, but, for practical purposes, one side wall 54 is preferably made removable and this removable wall, as shown, is provided at one end with inwardly projected lugs 55 at opposite sides, said lugs being apertured and screw threaded for the reception of securing screws 56 which are inserted through aligned apertures in the adjacent opposite side walls of the housing, the opposite end portion of said removable wall member 54 being turned at right angles, as at 51 to overlap the adjacent outer end wall 48 of the housing to which said angular end extension 5? is secured by a screw 58. v

In the operation of the device the extension cord from the handle Ill containing the circuit wires 33 and 34 is attached to any convenient electrical outlet so as to energize the heating element 32 within the insulation core 3! of the tubular shaft 24 whereby said shaft becomes heated and the heat is transmitted through it to the outer roller sleeve 29, the opposed presser roller 35 being retracted by manipulating the element 45 by the application of the forefinger 0f the operators hand which grasps the handle H] as hereinbefore described and the article or material to be pressed is placed betweenrthe rollers and adjusted with the operators other hand, the material in the pressing operation being either drawn between the rollers while holding the device stationary or by holding the material and moving the device with relation thereto and, obviously, the device is capable of use in pressing and creasing trouser legs and portions of other garments while being worn as well as for many other incidental uses.

Obviously, the structure admits of considerable modification within the spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims, the invention, therefore, is not limited to the specific construction and arrangements shown in the accompanying drawing.

What is claimed is:

1. An electrical hand roller presser comprising a handle, an elongated casing at the end of said handle, a tubular shaft extending laterally from said casing, an electrical heating element in said shaft, a roller sleeve on said shaft, an opposed presser roller mounted on a shaft extended transversely through said casing, spring means within said casing and acting upon said shaft whereby to resiliently support said presser roller in working relation to said first mentioned roller sleeve, and a puller bar attached to said shaft and having a finger grasp adjacent to said handle.

2. An electrical hand roller presser comprising a handle, a rectangular housing at one end of said handle, a tubular shaft mounted at its inner end on a side wall of the housing and open to communication with the interior of the housing, an annularly flanged plug in the outer end portion, of said tubular shaft, a heating roller sleeve located on said tubular shaft and retained by the annular flange of said plug, an electrical heating element in said tubular shaft, a transversely movable shaft extending through aligned longitudinal slots in opposite side walls of said rectangular casing and beyond one of said side walls, a presser roller on said last named shaft in opposed relation to the heating roller sleeve on said tubular shaft, a compression spring in said rectangular housing at one side of said laterally movable shaft and a tension spring at the oppositeside of said shaft normally urgingsaid shaft in the direction to yieldably support said presser roller in working relation to said heating roller sleeve, and a puller bar attached to said laterally movable shaft and having a finger grasping portion adjacent said handle for manually retracting said pressure roller.

3. In an electrical hand roller presser, an elongated handle member, a rectangular housing at one end of said member, a heating roller supported laterally from said housing, a presser roller opposed to said heating roller, a shaft for said presser roller extended through aligned longitudinal slots in opposed side walls of said housing, said shaft having a transverse spring seat within said housing, a compression spring interposed between said seat and the inner end wall of said housing whereby to normally urge the shaft outwardly in the direction to yieldably hold said pressing roller in working relation to said heating roller, an auxiliary tension spring in cooperatively opposed relation to said compression spring between said presser roller shaft and outer end of said housing, and means for manually retracting said presser roller shaft against the action of said springs.

4. In an electrical hand roller presser, an e1ongated handle member provided with a longitudinal bore, an elongated housing at one end of said handle member, a tube extending through the longitudinal bore of said handle member, said tube being flanged at one end to engage the adjacent inner portion of said housing around an opening aligned with the bore of said handle member, the opposite end portion of said tube extending into a counterbore at the outer end of said handle member, a lock nut on said end portion of the tube within said counterbore, a hollow shaft extending laterally from a side wall of said housing and open at its inner end to communicate with the interior of the housing, an electrical heating element in said hollow shaft, said heating element having a circuit cord extending through said housing and said tube in the handle member, a heating roller sleeve on said hollow shaft, said roller sleeve being heated by transmission of heat from said heating element through said hollow shaft, a presser roller opposed to said relation to the inner end of said handle member. 10

ARTHUR J. HEBERT. 

